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News that syphilis and gonorrhea rates have spiked in Alberta, and also increased in many other provinces, has put these old sexually transmitted infections (STIs) back into the limelight. Instead of associating what used to be called “social diseases” with Second World War sailors on shore leave, we’re now being encouraged to think about millennials hooking up from their smartphones. Sometimes, we are told, their sexual encounters are so anonymous or pseudonymous that the whole concept of “notifying your sexual partners” is moot.

Indeed, a California based foundation has called Tinder “a digital bathhouse for millennials” and has erected dozens of controversial billboards linking dating apps to diseases including chlamydia and gonorrhea.

Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Karen Grimsrud, also pointed the finger at social media, arguing these apps make it easy to find online sex partners at the speed of light, without the kind of due diligence that used to happen when people met on dates at the bowling alley or at church socials.

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STIs affect both sexes, and are definitely a problem for guys. The figures released by Alberta Health Services showed that total reported gonococcal infections in males increased by 66 per cent from 2014 to 2015, and also that 86 per cent of the cases of syphilis were in males who had sex with males.

There’s no doubt that if you have any symptoms of an STI you should make a beeline to get tested and treated if necessary. An Alberta government website, sexgerms.ca does a nice job of telling you what kinds of discharges, pains and rashes you should be looking for. However, it also makes the excellent point that “the most common symptom is no symptom at all. If in doubt, get tested.”

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Left untreated, these diseases can lead to serious health consequences including infertility, blindness and even insanity. Frederick the Great had gonorrhea and Idi Amin and Adolf Hitler are both believed to have suffered syphilitic brain damage.

While Grimsrud said syphilis and gonorrhea have “reached outbreak levels” in Alberta, the actual figures for 2015 were 350 and 3,400 cases respectively. This is a big jump from 2014, and of course there could be many undetected cases out there. Still, in a province with a population of over four million, these are not huge numbers, compared to say, Washington, D.C., where the gonorrhea rate is five times what it is in Alberta.

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So, even if you swipe right on Tinder, or its gay cousin, Grindr, for hours every day, you’re not all that likely to meet one of these two diseases. However, there are lots of other STIs to worry about, from chlamydia to scabies to herpes. Alberta’s sexgerms.ca website does a good job of describing them.

There is also some evidence that rising rates of some STIs, especially chlamydia, are related to better testing and diagnosis. It has also been pointed out that people with more partners, like those busy Tinder fans, tend to get themselves tested for STIs more often than other people, which may influence the statistics.

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Technology can sometimes help to solve problems it creates, in this case the ease of digital sex partner matching. Few would support those nasty websites that attempt to “out” people with STIs. Yet an increasing number of ordinary folks admit to using search engines to research prospective partners.

Some may wish to disclose their STI status voluntarily, and there are dating sites for people who are HIV+ or who have herpes. This can also be done, discreetly, on general sites. If you notice the number 437737 on a person’s profile, odds are they are trying to tell you that they have herpes, since that’s what it spells on a phone keypad. You might even find some level of obfuscation, such as, “I am a very busy person and always have 437,737 things going on at once. But I will make time for you!”

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One of the biggest worries, especially with gonorrhea, is the emergence of antibiotic resistance. A recent article in the British Medical Journaldocuments an outbreak of azithromycin resistant gonorrhea in the West Midlands and the south of England. Fortunately, that strain was treatable with another drug, ceftriaxone. However, Gwenda Hughes, head of the sexually transmitted infections surveillance unit at Public Health England, raises an alarm. “We know that the bacterium that causes gonorrhea can rapidly develop resistance to other antibiotics that are used for treatment,” she writes, “so we cannot afford to be complacent. If strains of gonorrhea emerge that are resistant to both azithromycin and ceftriaxone, treatment options would be limited as there is currently no new antibiotic available to treat the infection.”

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As for self-protection, condoms are effective against some STIs. However, sexgerms.ca notes that “they don’t protect the entire genital area. That means you’re still at risk for STIs like HPV (warts), crabs, herpes, syphilis and scabies.”

Church socials and bowling alleys may not be coming back anytime soon, but a bit of pre-coital conversation might be a good idea. And for millennials who can’t imagine what to chat about, here’s a little suggestion from our provincial government: “I want to start off with us being completely honest … There’s something I’d like to tell you before we have sex”.

Dr. Tom Keenan is an award winning journalist, public speaker, professor in the Faculty of Environmental Design at the University of Calgary, and author of the bestselling book, Technocreep, (www.technocreep.com).

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